Can You Parry Bosses in Elden Ring? A Comprehensive Guide to This Risky and Rewarding Technique

As a hardcore Elden Ring fan, I know the thrill of parrying a Crucible Knight and riposting him into oblivion. But can you really rely on parrying against hulking, sweeping bosses? In this extensive guide, I‘ll share everything I‘ve learned about the nuances of parrying bosses in Elden Ring.

What is Parrying and How Does it Work?

For any newcomers unfamiliar with parrying, let me provide a quick overview. Parrying requires precise timing to deflect an incoming attack just before it lands. To execute a parry, you need a parrying focused armament like a small shield or dagger in your left hand.

Press L2 just as an enemy attack is about to hit you, and you‘ll knock their strike aside, exposing them for a devastating riposte. Time it correctly, and you‘ll hear that immensely satisfying parry sound effect. Whiff the timing, and you‘ll take the full brunt of that attack to the face.

The basic buckler shield offers a start up of 8 frames and an active parry window of 12 frames. That means you have a 1/5th of a second window to nail the timing! Parrying daggers have a faster start up but shorter active frames. So small shields tend to be more forgiving for new parry spammers like myself back in the day.

Once you land the parry, you‘ll have a couple seconds to rush in for a riposte, dealing massive critical damage with R1 or R2. In PvE, parrying allows you to utterly annihilate tough enemies and even bosses. Of course, the timing is much more tricky to get down against mobile, hard-hitting bosses compared to your average soldier.

Comparing Parrying Bosses vs Standard Enemies

After parrying my way through Limgrave‘s soldiers and Crucible Knights, I naturally wondered – can you parry bosses with the same consistency? The short answer is yes, many bosses can be parried, but it‘s significantly more difficult to pull off compared to standard enemies.

Bosses attack faster, with more delayed timing, quicker windups, and greater reach. You‘ll need razor sharp reactions and intimate knowledge of their moveset to land those narrow parry windows consistently.

As a datapoint, I was able to parry and riposte the Tree Sentinel maybe 1 out of every 8 attempts. But against a standard soldier, I can land that parry 8 tries out of 10. Humanoid bosses are slightly easier thanks to their comparable size and speed. But grazing even one hit from a boss riposte will still cost you dearly.

In general, you want to fight a boss normally first to learn their moves before trying to parry. Look for specific attacks that have an obvious windup or thrusting/sweeping motion. These moves have been programmed with parrying in mind.

Bosses That Can and Can‘t be Parried

Through extensive testing and research (and dying), I‘ve compiled a list of the bosses that can and cannot be parried in Elden Ring:

Parryable Bosses:

• Godrick the Grafted (Phase 2 only)
• Red Wolf of Radagon
• Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon
• Flying Dragon Agheel
• Night‘s Cavalry
• Crucible Knight and Crucible Knight Ordovis
• Leonine Misbegotten
• Lichdragon Fortissax (on the ground only)
• Godfrey/Hoarah Loux
• Morgott, the Omen King
• Mohg, Lord of Blood (on the ground only)
• Sir Gideon Ofnir, the All-Knowing
• Dragonlord Placidusax (during humanoid phase)
• Maliketh, the Black Blade
• Radagon of the Golden Order

Not Parryable:

• Tree Sentinel
• Starscourge Radahn
• Astel, Naturalborn of the Void
• Regal Ancestor Spirit
• Fire Giant
• Godskin Apostle/Noble
• Malenia, Blade of Miquella
• Elden Beast
• Dragonlord Placidusax (during dragon phase)
• Most field and minor bosses

As you can see, humanoid and early game bosses tend to be parryable, while creatures and later game bosses generally are not. I‘ve included some key exceptions above. Now let‘s get into how you can master parrying some of these epic boss encounters!

Step-by-Step Guide to Parry Tactics for Bosses

Based on painful trial and error across 80+ hours in Elden Ring, I‘ve broken down step-by-step how to approach parrying major bosses:

1. Study Their Moveset

Make no attempt to parry your first time fighting a boss. Just focus solely on dodging attacks and surviving as long as possible while observing their moves. Look for slow windup attacks like slams, thrusts or swipes that will be ideal parry opportunities.

2. Bait Out These Prime Moves

Once you‘re comfortable dodging a boss, start trying to bait out those prime parry moves you identified. Position yourself at middle distance and dodge attacks until they do that big slam.

3. Parry the First Attack in a Combo

Many bosses have attack chains of 2-3 strikes. Try parrying just the first attack in a combo string, then dodge subsequent strikes. This is lower risk than trying to parry later hits.

4. Use Parry Ashes of War

For weapons like greatswords and colossal weapons, use parry ashes of war to create a larger parry window at the cost of less damage.

5. Don‘t Get Greedy!

If you succeed on a parry, resist the temptation to go for another instantly. Stick to your plan and bait out that ideal move before trying to parry again.

6. Use Quick Steps

If you miss the first parry attempt, use bloodhound step or quickstep to evade and create space to reset. Don‘t panic and spam parry!

Follow these tips, and you‘ll be parry king in no time. Next I‘ll highlight the best parry tools for making bosses look foolish.

Best Parrying Tools for Bosses

Through extensive testing on poor virtual dummies, I‘ve identified the top parrying tools for boss ripostes based on parry window size:

Buckler – 12 Frame Window

The buckler is ideal for beginners thanks to its generous parry window. Upgrade it to the Golden Parry ash of war for even more frames.

Parrying Dagger – 8 Frame Window

Slightly harder to use than the buckler due to the smaller window, but allows quicker parry attempt spam.

Thops‘s Barrier – 15 Frame Window

This magic parry skill has the most generous frame window in Elden Ring, great for bosses.

Carian Retaliation – 14 Frame Window

Excellent for mage builds as it allows you to parry spells back at enemies for huge damage.

Fingerprint Stone Shield – 12 Frame Window

A great medium shield option if you want more block power alongside parrying.

Advanced Parry Tactics for True Mastery

Once you‘ve got the basics down, here are some advanced tactics to truly master parrying in Elden Ring:

• Dual wield bucklers/parry shields to alternate parry attempts quicker
• Invest in Dexterity along with the Parry skill to increase parry window size
• Use the Parry talisman to reduce parry recovery animation
• Cast shield grease like Thunderbolt for added riposte damage
• For longer riposte windows, wield a heavier weapon like a greatsword in your main hand

Little tricks like these separate the parry apprentices from the true masters. Now let‘s discuss some of the hardest bosses to parry in Elden Ring.

Hardest Elden Ring Bosses to Parry

While parrying can make quick work of many standard bosses, some encounters are deliberately designed to severely punish parry attempts:

Malenia, Blade of Miquella

With her incredibly delayed combos and unpredictable Waterfowl Dance, Malenia is nigh impossible to parry consistently. Her lifesteal also negates much of the riposte payoff. You‘re better off two-handing a shield and avoiding parries completely here.

Elden Beast

Most of Elden Beast‘s attacks are massive AOEs or holy projectiles that cannot be parried. You‘ll have brief windows to parry arm swipes during close quarters, but riposting won‘t offset the magic damage.

Godskin Duo

Unless you can reliably parry both Godskins simultaneously, it‘s too risky to go for parries here. Their rolling attacks and delayed strikes make the timing very tricky.

Dragonlord Placidusax

His sweeping lightning attacks and plague breath cannot be parried during his dragon phase. You‘ll need to survive until his humanoid phase to safely parry his spear.

Fire Giant

This massive boss‘ size and rolling plunges make him extremely difficult to parry. You‘re better off going for charged heavy attacks to his ankle after dodges.

I cannot emphasize enough how punishing these end game bosses can be if you botch parry timing. Proceed carefully and focus on learning dodge patterns before considering parries here.

Concluding Thoughts on Parrying Bosses in Elden Ring

And there you have it – everything I‘ve learned so far about the ins and outs of parrying bosses in Elden Ring! While any enemy can be parried with perfect timing, humanoid bosses early in the game tend to be the most ripe for parry counters.

To recap, make sure to choose a parry tool with generous active frames. Study boss movesets thoroughly before attempting parries. Look for slow wind up attacks to parry rather than combos. And don‘t get greedy! Patience and practice will allow you to reliably land satisfying parries against most bosses.

Of course, no amount of skill can prepare you for the furious delay combos of Malenia or Placidusax‘s unrelenting lightning. But that‘s what makes mastering the parry system so rewarding in Elden Ring. I hope this guide gives you the knowledge to annihilate bosses with style. Let me know if you have any other parrying tips or discoveries on your journey to become Elden Lord!

Your parry apprentice,

Terry